Residential & Small BusinessSolar Power Systems

Going Green by Going Solar - Why Go Solar?

Resource Availability: Maine is a good place to harvest energy from the sun. Maine is located between 43° and 47° latitude and receives 30% more sunshine than Germany (located between 48° and 54° latitude). Germany leads the world in solar installation.

Save Money: A 30% federal tax credit with no limit contributes to a good return on a solar power system investment. Solar technology is robust and will last for decades. Increases in fossil fuel and electrical energy costs are inevitable. As a result, the return on your investment will accelerate.

Environment: Solar energy enables us to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Maine is one of the highest states per capita in CO2 emissions.

Maine Solar Engineering will perform a solar analysis and create a design for your solar photovoltaic system (solar electric system). All systems will meet or exceed the minimum design expectations, are safe, reliable, and economically justified. The services consist of the following:

Maine Solar Engineering can perform an analysis of hot water heating and space heating opportunities. When appropriate, heat pumps for hot water and space heating provide energy efficient solutions to reducing fossil fuel use. In addition, the electricity for the heat pumps can be provided by a photovoltaic system.

For the Residential Contractor:

In addition to the above services the following should be considered:

Solar site analysis and solar power system design is new territory for electricians. Often, electricians rely on distributors and their suppliers to determine solar electric system design specifications.

Distributors and suppliers' number 1 priority is to sell products, not to meet your specific needs and expectations.

Distributors may not recommend the most cost effective and appropriate equipment for a particular system.

A site analysis is often not considered when determining what solar equipment is needed.

Unique Solar Design Pitfalls

Site analysis that over estimates available solar energy for location of solar collectors

No prediction of minimum energy savings of designed solar power system

Use of photovoltaic panel STC ratings to predict available energy without using necessary derating factors